Holidays

Have I ever mentioned that in China, they like to string some non-working days together when there's a one-day holiday so that they have consecutive days of holidays? It's Labour day on Wednesday. So they made everyone work the preceding Saturday and Sunday, so that Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday are public holidays. The thinking behind this is so that the large working population can go back to their villages to visit their families or to simply go for holidays, thereby improving the tourism industry. The unintended result is that you get a very weird feeling on Friday because it really isnt a TGIF feeling because Saturday isnt a working day. Saturday night feels weird too. Then Sunday night, the usual night when you feel down, is actually a long-weekend Friday type of feeling. It's rather disorientating. The last time this happened was for Qing Ming, so that was quite recent.

Expat Living

Expats tend to band together because everyone eats the same type of cuisine plus we all speak the same language. Unfortunately, the conversation topics is also always the same. It gets worse if you have multiple cliques because the different cliques could be in different phases of their immersion into Shanghai life. Obviously, we are n00bs in shanghai so at every meet-up, we would be asking people about where to buy fresh meats, water, good restaurants, etc. But nowadays, we seem to know our shit around Shanghai now so now we are in a phase where we impart some of our knowledge to some new people. Therefore, we always end up talking about the same thing again and again. I'm seriously a little bored with these cycles. Probably need new friends.

Recluse

It is easy to be a recluse in a foreign land. I'm sometimes quite a loner to begin with. Actually... come to think of it, Im not sure if Im a loner. Sometimes I love to be left alone. Actually most of the time. But then I also like to be included and invited. Such an oxymoron. I met more Singaporeans at the recent conference (no shit! they're all connected.) Some have lived in Shanghai for some time now. Somebody said something that was really telling. He said that living in Shanghai was just a little more tiring. It's as if a little part of your brain, just that little processing power, need to think first before every action. Like whether it's safe to drink this or eat that, or what to look out for when you cross the road. That results in fatigue. That makes one tired because there's almost something running in the background. He then said, it's also very easy to begin a prisoner in your home. Because you get some tired and lazy, you just want to coop up in your apartment and curl in bed and not do anything. The cold doesnt help. I absolutely resonated with what he said. Another person told me that she tried to beat the system at the start. She didnt feel like she needed to socialise and go out and meet people. After a while, she felt that it was impossible but she came up with her own way of socialising. Organising cook-outs at her place. That solution was a little weird for me but whatever rocks your boat, sista. I wonder what my solution will be.

Connected #1

Singapore is such a small place that if you're plus or minus one or two years apart from someone, you'd likely be connected to by at least two degrees. Extrapolate that to the small community in Shanghai, then everyone is so connected that it's kinda scary! I'm going to raise one example. Try to keep up with me. M reached out to me on Linkedin one day. He said that he met up with this girl I once went out with who mentioned I was now based in Shanghai. Turns out M works in the same industry as me. Then I met J, a female Singaporean at a conference in Shanghai because T, who is also Singaporean, said I should know more Singaporeans. I was chatting with J when her phone rang and i saw the name of the caller. It was M. Turns out J and M are ex-colleagues. After dinner, J asked me for drinks with J and M. I was a little bored so I went. As it turns out, when I saw M, i remembered that he was from my JC and he knew my mei mei - T|ny. I mentioned that I know he knows T|ny and asked if it's cos they were from the same secondary school. He said no. He was from XXX Sec Sch. Gulp! I was from XXX Sec Sch as well! that was freaky. That was that night. Then later that night, J added me on Linkedin and i saw that she attended the same course as me in university. Same year as well. My cohort was rather small and I was racking my brains to remember her. Turns out she took the part-time course. That's kinda scary. Same course, same years I was there. At the next day of the conference, I met A. I had met A at another industry conference in Beijing. Someone was there with me in Beijing. To cut the long story short, she was having breakfast at the hotel when A saw her and they reconnected. They were secondary school classmates. A was the ex-colleague of my colleague, now based in Singapore, plus she is quite cute so i chatted with her again in Beijing. Turns out she knows M as well, from university she said. Since A was two years younger than me (same age as Someone) and M was one year younger than me (same age as T|ny). I said to A that M must have been her junior in university. She said yes. But M was her senior in JC. What??!? M was in the same JC as me! So A was my two-year junior in JC, and same sec sch as Someone. I hadnt mentioned this before, but T, whom i only recently met at a conference in Hong Kong (I seem to attend a lot of conferences), works in the same industry as me. By some sheer coincidence, he lives eight floors above me in the condominium im living in right now in Shanghai.

Baby

One of my oldest friends in the world recently had a baby. I actually managed to meet up with him when I was in Singapore two weeks ago. A short but nice dinner at Nan Hwa Chang and then ice cream shake at his place. We discovered a new B&J flavour. His baby was due 1 May - Labour Day, Haha. Someone is trying to be funny. But i guess that same someone forgot to ask the baby to eat more because at that time when we met, baby was underweight. :( I was worried when i got back to Shanghai. I could see my friend was worried. But i didnt dare to ask much. To cut the long story short, I was glad that four days after I returned to Shanghai, the baby popped out. Just a few hours before he was supposed to be induced. I was more relieved than I thought I'd be. Phew, pregnancy is so stressful.

Money Money

I brought back all my money when I last went back to Singapore to deposit into my Singapore bank account and I was left with about S$500 for about 10 days. Usually, that would be enough but then a client lunch came up and I had to pay for it. Living on S$200 for 10 days is kinda scary.

Sushi Oyama

I thought I had mentioned this restaurant before but after some searches I realised I didnt. We found this restaurant in our initial search for good japanese restaurants in Shanghai. It was by chance we did cos it was on somebody's blog, which was in english, which is quite rare. Anyway, Oyama doesnt have a menu if you sit at the counter. It's RMB800 per person and he just makes whatever sushi he likes or you like until he thinks you have enough. If you know him better, his idea of enough can be altered. In any case, in our last six months here, with someone in and out of Shanghai, we have been there at least 8 times. Even when Im alone in Shanghai, when i feel alone, I'll just go there myself with my Kindle. I just went there again last Saturday. It was a cold cold night and Oyama-san gave me solace and raw fish.

Singapore Life

It isnt a surprise that when one is away from home, one tries to replicate his life as if it were back at home. For me, it's usually about the food. Chicken rice, carrot cake, mee pok. That's the usual Singaporean fare. There are a few Singapore restaurants here that are institutions. Institutions that every Singaporean who works in Shanghai will venture to at least one in his initial foray in the city. Frankie is one such restaurant. It's kinda far away but it's near where I play my weekly badminton so I go there almost every week. I recently found out that my colleague who's also Singaporean knows him so well that she and her friends gave him a plaque. It's so lame here that even ang ku kueh is so revered here. A lot of people I have spoken to rave about his ang ke kueh. I dont even eat AKK in Singapore but i only found out recently that the "ku" in AKK means tortoise. That's why the AKK looks like a tortoise. I never knew that! I told you I dont eat AKK. Recently too, we found out that there's a Singapore restaurant super near our place. It has an odd name. Orchard CRC. Decent food at exorbitant prices. Unfortunately, sometimes when there's a craving, price becomes secondary. What a sucker.

Bad Drivers

Maybe that's why the driving so so bad here. The decals are asking drivers to come nearer and nearer.

Left

My direct boss's last day was yesterday. I feel a sense of loss. From Monday onwards, I report to the President directly.

Jellyfish!

I saw this at the reception counter of a client's office the other day. At first i thought it was an LED screen depicting an aquarium. Then i realised it was too thick to be an LED screen. It was a real tank with jellyfish. I actually even thought the jellyfish were fake. You can never trust the Chinese to much. Isnt it pretty? I have begun my search on where to buy these. The client's based in Nanjing so that isnt much help.

Foodies

A lot has been said of Singaporeans being foodies but our experience in Shanghai also seems to indicate that there are a lot of greedy people here too. Here's a picture we took of a popular 茶餐厅 30 minutes after it opened. 30 minutes and there's already such a long queue. Thank goodness we were there five minutes after it opened so we manage to get a seat.

A Bit Ashamed

When I bought the heater to be placed in my office, I was the first and only person in the office to do that. I think some people scoffed that I'm this poorly-adapted Singaporean who couldnt take the cold. A large part of why i couldnt take the cold was because the building in which we are in hadnt switched to providing hot air at the onset of winter. But I was vindicated somewhat when someone borrowed my heater once when I was travelling cos it was just too cold that day. Now that winter is over and spring is here, the temperature is of course slowly rising. However, the building is once again slow in providing cold air on this onset of spring. So, there are days when I feel hot in the office. So, I ordered myself a fan. Hee Hee. However, I was a little embarrassed to open it. It's now left at the korner, until it gets too hot.

Tea

Got some 龙井tea the other day from a client. Actually strictly speaking, not a client but someone I have been trying to do a deal with. He's always very nice to send me stuff. I actually called him to thank him and said that I actually wanted to buy 龙井 in Shanghai but scared to kenna conned but yet too busy to go to Hangzhou to buy. He then said he would end me more next week. W00t!

Could Be Done Better?

In Sanya, near the hotel where I stayed, I heard there was a nice Chinese restaurant over the water. As I had some time, I thought I'd check it out. You need a buggy to get there. It looked promising from far. As I neared, I had this strong sense of foreboding. It was as if the entire place's mood/design was very heavy. When I got to the restaurant, I could tell that it consisted of wooden structures which really reminded me of old-school prisons in China. I have no idea what old-school prisons in ancient China looked like but these sure felt like it. I thought it was a pity that the design was like this. So raw and so unpolished. Tsk Tsk.

Diffused

I mentioned my diffuser in my room the other day. Someone bought some french brand diffuser thing when she was in Paris. We used one in the bathroom and it smells great. The one in my office ran out but I didnt bear to bring our french one to the office. That's why i hate to buy expendable stuff when im overseas. I'll be very stingy with it because I wont get to buy it as easily and that irritates me. But in the end, i thought perhaps I'll see if they sell these in singapore, so i brought it to the office.

Spring Time

I always wondered why people ar so happy about spring time. So many poems, songs and proclamations have been written to celebrate the onset of spring. I never knew why. Of course it's probably because Singapore only has two seasons - Hot and Hotter. But now that spring is here in China, it's far less grey and much more colorful. One's mood is certainly lifted as well. There are colorful little flowers by the roads and my condo even has some sakuras. I even hear people going out to some place one hour outside Shanghai to see sakura. I bet it'd be damn crowded.

Burden

The new girl I hired started work this Monday. I was a little stressed leading up to Monday. It's a rather heavy burden to ask someone to leave their job to join you in your crusade to do something special. I felt like i was... jesus. But obviously I know I am not, so that's why it's scary. Then it came to what work to assign on the first day. Was this too much or was that too little? Decisions decisions.

Long Time

Every time I take a long time between posts, I'd start off with an apology entry. I think it's getting stale. Work hasnt been exceptionally busy actually. Just more travelling which inevitably takes me away from the computer more. I was in Sanya one week, then Beijing last week then Nanjing for a day trip the other day. It seems like clients are more active here after CNY. No one makes big decisions before and immediately after CNY.

Elevan Simple Concepts to Become a Better Leader

Read this article on Linkedin. Decided to post it here in case I need it again. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ Being likeable will help you in your job, business, relationships, and life. I interviewed dozens of successful business leaders for my last book, to determine what made them so likeable and their companies so successful. All of the concepts are simple, and yet, perhaps in the name of revenues or the bottom line, we often lose sight of the simple things - things that not only make us human, but can actually help us become more successful. Below are the eleven most important principles to integrate to become a better leader: 1. Listening "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway Listening is the foundation of any good relationship. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors. Here's why the best CEO's listen more. 2. Storytelling "Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." -Robert McAfee Brown After listening, leaders need to tell great stories in order to sell their products, but more important, in order to sell their ideas. Storytelling is what captivates people and drives them to take action. Whether you're telling a story to one prospect over lunch, a boardroom full of people, or thousands of people through an online video - storytelling wins customers. 3. Authenticity "I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier." -Oprah Winfrey Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a positive, attractive energy. Customers, employees, and media all want to help an authentic person to succeed. There used to be a divide between one’s public self and private self, but the social internet has blurred that line. Tomorrow's leaders are transparent about who they are online, merging their personal and professional lives together. 4. Transparency "As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth." -John Whittier There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed. Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues. More important, transparency makes it a lot easier to sleep at night - unworried about what you said to whom, a happier leader is a more productive one. 5. Team Playing "Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." - SEAL Team Saying No matter how small your organization, you interact with others every day. Letting others shine, encouraging innovative ideas, practicing humility, and following other rules for working in teams will help you become a more likeable leader. You’ll need a culture of success within your organization, one that includes out-of-the-box thinking. 6. Responsiveness "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." -Charles Swindoll The best leaders are responsive to their customers, staff, investors, and prospects. Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a culture of responsiveness. Whether the communication is email, voice mail, a note or a a tweet, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organization. 7. Adaptability "When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Ben Franklin There has never been a faster-changing marketplace than the one we live in today. Leaders must be flexible in managing changing opportunities and challenges and nimble enough to pivot at the right moment. Stubbornness is no longer desirable to most organizations. Instead, humility and the willingness to adapt mark a great leader. 8. Passion "The only way to do great work is to love the work you do." -Steve Jobs Those who love what they do don’t have to work a day in their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom line. 9. Surprise and Delight "A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless." - Charles de Gaulle Most people like surprises in their day-to-day lives. Likeable leaders underpromise and overdeliver, assuring that customers and staff are surprised in a positive way. There are a plethora of ways to surprise without spending extra money - a smile, We all like to be delighted — surprise and delight create incredible word-of-mouth marketing opportunities. 10. Simplicity "Less isn't more; just enough is more." - Milton Glaser The world is more complex than ever before, and yet what customers often respond to best is simplicity — in design, form, and function. Taking complex projects, challenges, and ideas and distilling them to their simplest components allows customers, staff, and other stakeholders to better understand and buy into your vision. We humans all crave simplicity, and so today's leader must be focused and deliver simplicity. 11. Gratefulness "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." -Gilbert Chesterton Likeable leaders are ever grateful for the people who contribute to their opportunities and success. Being appreciative and saying thank you to mentors, customers, colleagues, and other stakeholders keeps leaders humble, appreciated, and well received. It also makes you feel great! Donor's Choose studied the value of a hand-written thank-you note, and actually found donors were 38% more likely to give a 2nd time if they got a hand-written note! The Golden Rule: Above all else, treat others as you’d like to be treated By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from coworkers, customers, and business partners. Holding others in high regard demonstrates your company’s likeability and motivates others to work with you. This seems so simple, as do so many of these principles — and yet many people, too concerned with making money or getting by, fail to truly adopt these key concepts.